Recently, gender stereotypes have made many headlines in America’s media. From Target doing away with signs directing to “boy” or “girl” toys and removing “traditional” color backdrops to mark something as “masculine” or “feminine,” to professional studies on the effects they have on children growing up, it brings up the question of what do gender stereotypes actually do to young children as they mature and as it turns out, stereotypes effect young children starting as early as just three years of age. I chose this topic because I can honestly look back into my childhood and see what stereotypes did to me. Growing up in the deep south of North Carolina, things were very traditional, which wasn’t easy for a girl who loved to play with toy
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Many times gender stereotypes have a huge role in these decisions. For example, my brother wanted to be an astronaut, a firefighter, and a police officer as he was growing up compared to when I was younger I wanted to be a teacher or a nurse. One can obviously tell that the jobs chosen are biased on a preconceived notion of the “proper job” for a man or woman. The United States is even marketing jobs in computer technology to girls to help overcome some of these biases that bleed into adult life. The United Kingdom is also fighting against gender stereotypes. A campaign in the UK named “Let Toys be Toys” is very successful and has led to fourteen different retailed vowing to end marketing toys to with gender stereotypes. One campaign has said “the stereotypes we see in toy marketing connect with the inequalities we see in adult life. By late primary age, research … shows that children already have very clear ideas about the jobs that are suitable for boys and girls; ideas that are very hard to shake later on.” This is just one example of how stereotypes can limit children from young ages to live their life how they want. Fighting against gender stereotyping can help children grow up to a world where they are all equal in education, pay, and social
Many times gender stereotypes have a huge role in these decisions. For example, my brother wanted to be an astronaut, a firefighter, and a police officer as he was growing up compared to when I was younger I wanted to be a teacher or a nurse. One can obviously tell that the jobs chosen are biased on a preconceived notion of the “proper job” for a man or woman. The United States is even marketing jobs in computer technology to girls to help overcome some of these biases that bleed into adult life. The United Kingdom is also fighting against gender stereotypes. A campaign in the UK named “Let Toys be Toys” is very successful and has led to fourteen different retailed vowing to end marketing toys to with gender stereotypes. One campaign has said “the stereotypes we see in toy marketing connect with the inequalities we see in adult life. By late primary age, research … shows that children already have very clear ideas about the jobs that are suitable for boys and girls; ideas that are very hard to shake later on.” This is just one example of how stereotypes can limit children from young ages to live their life how they want. Fighting against gender stereotyping can help children grow up to a world where they are all equal in education, pay, and social